The difficulties of falling in love
by Artistard3
Summary: What happens when the person you want to spend the rest of your life with gets hurt? How will she deal with the pain of having to hide her feelings from everyone in the process?
1. Chapter 1

*Aria's p.o.v.*

I'm sitting on a bench in the park alone on a sunny day, writing in my journal. The park is empty, and I lie my legs against the whole bench, and continue writing poetry in my journal. I just came back from Iceland with my family for a year, and now we're back in rosewood. You see, I would go try and hang out with my friends, but after everything with Alison happened... -I promise I'll explain later-... I kinda lost touch with Hanna, Emily and Spencer when we went to Iceland.

After about 15 minutes of writing in my journal, I hear someone walking up to the bench. "Can I sit here?" I hear someone ask. I turn my head and my eye contact with a man with magnificent blue eyes, and dark curly hair. "Oh, sure." I say, smiling, an moving my feet off the bench so he can sit down. "I'm Aria." I say, smiling at him. "I'm Ezra." He says, smiling back at me. I see him pull out a book out of his book bag. After about five minutes, when I'm done writing, I glance at him staring intently into whatever book he's reading. "What book are you reading?" I ask, curiously. "To kill a mockingbird. It's my favorite." He says.

"Mine too." I say. He closes the book with a bookmark, which says Hollis College on it. "Do you go to Hollis?" I ask, curious. "Um, I just graduated. I'm gonna start my first teaching job tomorrow." He says. "Yeah, I think I'd like to teach." I say, scooting a tiny bit closer to him. "What's your major?" He asks. "Um, I'm leaning towards English." I lie. "That's what I'm teaching!" He says, smiling at me. "Do you write?" He asks, pointing towards my journal. "Yeah It's mostly personal. Just for me." I reply. We talk about a little bit more before we end up making out, and exchanging numbers. He is really sweet. I don't normally hook up with people like that, but I really like him. And I have a lot in common with him. Why shouldn't we be together?

The next day, when I start my first day of school, I talk to Emily more than Spencer or Hanna, but I don't talk to them that much. We have English together, which all of us are in. I'm in trig with Emily and Spencer. Anyways, we have a new teacher named in English. I heard a rumor that he was really hot. I wonder if that's true.

When he turns around, I see Ezra standing there, looking at me with his eyes really wide. Like huge. "Oh my god." I mumble, when my phone rings and I get a text from -A.

"I'm sorry." I say, before ducking my head down the rest of class. "Aria, can you stay after class a moment?" He asks. I nod without making eye contact. I walk up to his desk. "Listen I-" I start to say. "You told me you went to Hollis." He says, gritting his teeth. "No, I told you I was leaning toward English. Which is true."I say, staring at him.

"Look, Aria. When first saw you I thought 'who is this girl?'.." He says. "I'm still that girl. Nothing's changed." I say, placing my hand on top of his. "Yes. It has. I'm your teacher." He says. "You know that this feels right." I say, staring at him. "I'm sorry." He says. "You should go. I'll write you a late pass." He says. When he hands it to me, I walk out without saying anything.

I see a movie with my mom, and I tell her that she can go home, I'm going to go get some coffee. When I leave, it's raining and I don't have an umbrella or a car. I was gonna walk home, but you know, I was In the rain. I see Ezra's car pull up, and drive away, but then his door open for me. I run inside and we drive he parks for a second. I look at him, and we lean in to kiss each other. It feels like fireworks, like the first time we kissed.

I smile at him, and he looks at me. "I'll drive you home." He says. He drops me off in front of my house. I go into my room, and I call my friends. We reconnect,and after a day of catching up after school, we're all best friends again. I know that sounds cliché, but it's true.

I called Ezra to ask if we could talk. "Ezra. I need to talk to you." I say. "Okay. Come over to my apartment. I'll text you the directions." He says. I go to where he lives, and his apartment. It looks so much like Ezra.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He asks. "I just wanted to know what you think about our relationship. I mean, you kissed me yesterday, but I thought we were over. I'm just need some clarification.." I say. "I know this is wrong, but I really like seeing you. Maybe we can see each other. Be boyfriend and girlfriend, but in my apartment? Just when we're at school, you know. Act normal?" He asks. "That would be nice." I say. "Are you sure. You can back out at anytime." He says. "No I like you. I want to be with you." I whisper, before kissing him. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." I say, before walking out. "Bye." He says.

After chemistry today, Hanna, Spencer, Emily and I sit together at lunch, at a table in the corner.

"You guys want to sleepover at my place tonight? We should try and catch up more." Spencer asks. "Sure." We agree. We talk about small stuff as we eat, until lunch is over. "Let's meet in the park. We can hang out there. I don't want to talk to Melissa and Ian by myself." Spence says. "Okay." I say.

When school ends, I text my mom to tell her we're staying at Spencer's, and then we each drive separately to the park and meet at the bench that I met Ezra at, which is where we usually hang out in the park. Once we all get there, we talk about the past year, and our conversation ends up lasting for about an hour. "Hey ." Hanna screams. "Looking good !" Spencer screams. He looks at us and waves. Oh my god this is so awkward. He looks at me as he rides away, and I stare back at him, until he loses eye contact.

"There are some teachers I don't want to see on a bike, and there are some teachers I do want to see on a a bike." Spencer says. I half smile. This is still awkward. We end up going to Spencer's, and making sure we understand to kill a mockingbird because tomorrow in class, we're going to have a discussion and if you prove a good point, you can get extra credit. I don't need it, but I like participating anyways, so, why not? We also do math homework together, mostly because Hanna needs help, and we wanted to check our homework off of spencer, because she's the smartest kid in all of rosewood, I'm pretty sure.

The next day, I have English class with Ezra, the class where we can get extra credit for proving a point. Once we all sit down, Mr. Fitz, as I should really be calling him explains what's gonna go down.

"Okay, so basically, I'm gonna ask some questions about the book, and if you have an opinion, or anything you'd like to say. After you say something, I might continue to ask you some questions, to help me understand your thinking. Please feel free to jump in at anytime, but no fighting. I guess that's it. I want you all to understand the deeper meaning or the book, because I know you can. Okay. So I'll start. I'm gonna ask a question, and if you have an answer, please tell me, but if you don't I'm just gonna call on you. I'll tell you on the way out if you get extra credit for participating." He explains.

"How does Scout grow as a person?" starts.

This kid in the back of the room raises his hand. "Drew." calls on him.

"I think that at the beginning, Scout is just an innocent child that is being raised with a positive mindset. She's only six or seven, and she doesn't really understand everything yet. How and why the world works the way it does. As she matures and grows older, I think because of all of the events going on in her life, she starts to realize that things aren't always what they seemed to be. People can get away with things because of what type of person they are. She starts to understand."

"That was a good answer. Does everybody understand?" He checks.

"Yeah." The kids say boredly in unison.

" Why is it told from Scout's perspective, instead of Jem's, Tom Robinson's, Atticus's , or anybody else?" Alyssa." He calls on this really tall girl who lives in my neighborhood, but we're not friends.

"I think that since Scout is still a child, it's easier to describe what's happening through innocent eyes that have no background knowledge about anything like racial discrimination besides what little she finds out on her own, instead of Atticus telling the story about the Tom Robinson case. Since she grows as a person, we can feel what she's feeling better than we could by Atticus telling the story."

"Yeah, that makes sense." says.

"There are a lot of critics who think that Scout is too perceptive for a seven year old. Does anybody think the author made Scout too perceptive for a seven year old?" Ezra asks. Nobody raises their hand. I see Ezra look at spencer who is currently looking at a text she got from -A. "Spencer?" He asks. "Uh. Wh-wh-what was the question?" Spencer asks. "Um, do you think the author took liberties with the narrators voice?" He rephrased. She looks lost, and Spencer is never lost. I'm gonna be a good friend and save her the embarrassment that I know she doesn't need, by answering his question.

I raise my hand and he calls on me. "I think whoever said that missed the point." I say bluntly. "Oh, okay. Go on." He says. "The author is writing from an adults perspective about things she remembered from when she was a kid. Things she was passionate about." I reply, keeping eye contact with Ezra. "Do you think it's fair to apply that insight, in retrospect?" He asks. "Yeah. Why not? I mean kids see a lot. Probably more than adults. They just don't have the words yet to express their feelings." I say. "Why do they see more?" He asks, curiously. "Because they're curious. And they act on their feelings." I can feel Emily and Spencer glance up at me confused. "And you think adults have lost that ability. To act on their feelings?" He asks. "Not the lucky ones." I say, a little quieter. "And what happens to those people.. Who are unable to act on their feelings?" He asks, looking me in the eye. "They get very frustrated." I say, smiling slyly at him. He licks his lips quickly, and puts his hand on his neck."Any other opinions?" He asks, because we've been talking for too long, and now it's awkward.

Everyone shakes their head. we just want to leave. Ezra looks at his watch. "Oh, we have like 2 minutes. You can pack up, you don't have any homework, besides reading the books I assigned you." He says, as the bell rings.

We all pile out and I meet my friends at our lunch spot. We talk about everything that teens talk about, including -A. I hear my phone vibrating, so while they're talking, I answer it. "Hey." Ezra says. "Hey." I reply. "Want to come over later?" He asks. "Um, sure. What time?" I ask. "Seven." He says. "Seven's good." I say, before hanging up. "Guys, I got a job." Hanna says, excitedly. "Really? Where?" Emily asks. "It's at that new Chinese place. I'm just the delivery girl. But I get payed decent. I work 3 times a week, and yeah." She explains. "Good for you." I say, smiling at her. "I start after school today, though." She adds. "Tell us how it goes tomorrow." I say. "I will."


	2. Chapter 2

After school, I drive straight to Ezra's apartment. He takes me to a reading where he reads one of his stories, and I met his college roommate. It was at a bar.

When we get back, Ezra sits on the couch. He has this look on his face. "Did Hardy say something.. About me? About us?" "No. I was just at a bar having fun with a highschool student." "Was I acting like a high school student, did I do anything to embarrass you? Look, have I ever done that?" I say, sitting down. "No. that's not what this is about." He says. "Then what is it about?" I ask. "Is this Hardy's problem, or yours? Where did this come from?" I ask, confused.

"Age is never an issue when we're together." I say. "When it's just the two of us. But when we're out in the world. People notice." He says. "Hardy noticed. He's your friend." I defend myself. "Let's get real. In theory, we are a lot more wrong than we are right." He says ."You want to be real? Forget about theory. What does it feel like.. When we're together?" I ask. "It feels good. It feels right." He says standing up. "Look. I want to be with you. I want to introduce you to my friends, take you to a bar, split a plate of fries.. But I don't think we can do that." He says. "When I'm with you, you're the only person I care about." He says. "Are you talking yourself into this or out of this?" I ask. "Yes. No. Maybe". He says. I half smile at him, and walk over to him. "We're here now. And It feels good. Can't we just not care, together?" I say before kissing him, and smiling up at him.

We've been dating about 2 months now.

"Aria?" I hear him ask. "I know you might hate me for saying this, as we've only been dating for two months, but I think I love you." He says. "What?" I ask. He takes my hand in his. "I love you." He says, squeezing my hands in his.

"I love you too." I say, before hugging him. "I've been meaning to tell you that. I just didn't know if you felt the same way yet." He says. I smile at him. "Yes, I am in love with you." I say, kissing his cheek. We're both grinning.

We talk for a while. "I have to go." I say. He walks me to the door. I move to kiss him, and I wrap my arms around his back, and he does the same with mine, as we kiss sweetly, and then he gives me two adorable pecks that make us both grin. "Bye." I say. He catches my hand and turns me around. "Are you sure you have to go?" He asks. "Yeah, things were weird this morning so I'm not sure what I'm gonna be walking into." I say. "I liked having you here." He says. "I didn't say I wasn't coming back." I say, smiling at him. "How about we stay in for dinner tomorrow." I suggest. "Sounds perfect." I say, after kissing him on the cheek, and going back to my car. "I love you." I say, glancing back at him, grinning at me.

The next day at school, we have this huge Spanish test that I think I did good on.

"Can you all come over to my house? For a sleepover...Be there at ten." Emily questions. "Okay." We all agree.

After school, after doing my homework at Spencer's house with Spencer and Hanna (Emily had swim practice), I drove to Ezra's. "hey." He says, kissing me quickly. "Hey." I say, walking inside. We sit down next to each other on the couch, and tell stories for about 20 minutes. "Oh, I ordered delivery Chinese food. It'll be here soon." Ezra says. "Okay." I say. I turn to kiss him. "Why are you kissing me?" He asks, smiling. "I shrug." "We're all alone. I just want to kiss you." I laugh. "Okay. If that's what you want to do, I'm up for it." He says, leaning in to kiss me, and smirking.

We kiss normal for a couple of minutes when I lick his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He obliges, and things start getting heated. He pulls me closer to him. And I straddle his lap, as we kiss. He puts his hand on my back, and I put mine around his back. I move them to the front of his shirt, and start to play with the hem or his shirt My hand go under his shirt and I rub his abs lightly, because I can. We stop kissing for a second, and he starts to make his way down to my neck. He kisses my sweet spot and makes me moan faintly. "Ezraaaa." I moan, quietly, closing my eyes. He stops and kisses me again,and I do that, by slowly unbuttoning his shirt, stopping mid way when his hands land on mine. "Aria." He warns. The door bell rings.

"I'm sorry." I apologize. "It's okay." He says, forgetting to button his shirt back up before he goes and pays for the food.

"Hanna?" I hear him say. "Oh, hello." Hanna, one of my best friends says says, awkwardly. "Here's your food." She adds. I see her blush when she sees his shirt open. "oh god. I'm sorry." He says, awkwardly. "It's okay." she says.

He pays her, and she leaves . He closed the door, and we sit on the couch and eat. When we're done, we continue from where we left off, except I end up laying on top of him as we kiss, laying on the couch. His home phone rings, but we let it ring.

"Hello, Ezra, this is Ella Montgomery, Aria's mom," Ella says. we both sit up and stare at the telephone. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over to our house for a faculty dinner tomorrow. I've invited a couple people from the school, and Byron invited people from Hollis where he works. Please consider, and we would love to have you. Call me back."

"That was weird." He says. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You don't have to go if you don't want to. It's stupid." I say. "I'll go." He says. "Wait. Why?" I ask. "They think I'm some lonely 23 year old man, and I'm gonna get a real home cooked meal. You know I can't cook." He says. I laugh. "I know." "Wait a second. Let me call her back." He says before calling my mom to tell her he can make it.

I glance at my watch. It's already 9:30 and I told my friends I'd be at Emily's house at 10:00. "Ezra. I have to go." I tell him. "Okay. I love you." He says, smiling. "I love you too." I say, kissing his cheek, and leaving to go to Emily's house.

While i was driving, my hair fell out if my bun a little bit. I get there about 12 minutes early.

Once I get to Emily's house and park outside her drive way, I pull open her mirror so I can fix my hair. That's when I see it. The hickey on my neck. "Oh my god." I Mumble. I look through my purse to try and find some cover up or something. Nothing. I look in the glove compartment, and I can't find anything. I check my pockets, the trunk, under the seats. And still, nothing. What am I going to do? They're gonna see it, and ask about it. Um, I could lie. Then I hear a knock on my window. It's Hanna. Aw, crap.

I get out of my car and walk with Hanna inside. lets us in and tells us we can go on up to Emily's room. "Hey." We say as we enter. We all sit on her bed, Spencer was already inside.

"So what did you all do tonight?" Hanna asks. "Homework." Spencer says, laughing. "Of, course you did." Hanna says. "What did you do, Emily?" Hanna asks. "I has swim practice until 8:30, and then I ate dinner with my mom. Not that exciting, Han." Emily says. "What about you?" Hanna asks turning to me.

"Erm.." I think "Wait. What's that on your neck, Aria?" Hanna asks excitedly. "Nothing." I say, quickly covering my hickey up with my hand. Emily and Spencer are confused. Hanna pried my fingers off my neck and finally I gave up. "Ooh. That's a bad hickey." Hanna says, smirking. "Who gave it to you?" Spencer asks, smirking. "Uh, nobody. You don't know him." I say. "He doesn't go to school with us." I say, turning bright red. "Please tell us, Ar." Hanna says. "It's.. Private right now." I say. "Please don't bring it up ever again. It's really complicated." I say. "So what did you do, Hanna?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Oh, yeah. I wanted to tell you guys something. So you know that Chinese food delivery job I got?" She asks us. We all nod. "Uh, well I was doing my job, and I ordered to this address, and it was ." She says, grinning. "And his shirt was almost all of the way unbuttoned." She says. We all laugh. Mine is just an uncomfortable laugh.

Well this is awkward.

"Hey, my parents are having this faculty dinner thing at my house If you want to come. And may or may not be there." I say, laughing. "Really! We're coming." Hanna says. I laugh at her. "Gosh, Hanna." Emily says, smiling. "I'm just gonna be the only kid there, and I don't want to be there alone." I explain.

We talk for a while and then fall asleep. The next morning, we borrow Emily's clothes so we don't have to go home, and we go to school. I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

We walk into school together, and we meet up during lunch, trig, and English. After school, my friends agreed to meet me at my house by 6:00, the faculty dinner starts at 7:00.


	3. Chapter 3

When I get home, my mom asks me to help her set up, and I agree. We make everything look nice. "So, who's coming to this thing, mom?" I ask.

"Well a lot of people can't make it, so its just two people from dads work, mrs. welch, and , and Simone is coming. She came back yesterday!" She says excitedly. I grin. "Really?" I squeal. I haven't seen her in like five years. "Okay." When my friends come, send them up?" I ask. "Sure, Hun." My mom says.

About 20 minutes later, my friends come barging in. "Hey gurl hey." Hanna says. I laugh and roll my eyes. Spencer and Emily follow. "Please stay with me all night. Unless you want to socialize with old people." I say. "They're not all old." Hanna smirks. " ." I say sarcastically. Spencer and Emily start laughing.

The doorbell rings, and about 20 seconds later, my mom yells for us to come downstairs, it's Simone. "Simone!" I hug her. "Aria! Wow, you've grown so much." She says. "That's a lie. I've been the same height since seventh grade." I laugh. We talk for a little bit. My friends used to come over when Simone watched me, so they knew her too. My mom gets a call that Mrs. Welsh cancelled, my dad's Co-workers Robert Stevenson, and Jake Anderson carpool together along with Ezra.

When Ezra gets here, I smile at him for a second, before getting my friends to come into the dining room for dinner. There's two tables, because ours wasn't big enough. At one is my Dad, Mom, Simone, Ezra, , and Mr. Stevenson. Hanna, Spencer, Emily, Mike and I have to sit at our own table. As we eat dinner, mike goes upstairs after 15 minutes, and stays in his room for the rest of the night. "So, did you hear about Stephanie?" Hanna asks us, trying to start a conversation about Stephanie a girl who goes to our school. "No." We all say. "She's pregnant." Hanna says. "You are such a gossip, Hanna." Emily states. I laugh. Okay. Thanks for that. I will not be passing that on." Spencer says. I chuckle. "Me either." I say. Our table eats quietly for a while, when I hear my mom suggest that Ezra an Simone should go out on a date. I take a breath in and try to block them out, but a minute later, all I can hear is Simone and Ezra laughing, and her flirting with him.

"Aria?" Hanna asks. "Yeah?" I ask. "Can we leave? This is boring." Hanna says. "Hanna. That was rude." Spencer says. "I'm sorry, Aria. You wouldn't mind, would you?" Hanna asks. "No. You all can go. I'll see you later." I say. They all get up and leave me sitting at the table alone.

"So where are you from?" He asks her. "I was raised here, in rosewood, but I moved to New York after college." She says. "That's cool. I was raised in New York, and moved here for college, and now I live here." He says. She half smiles. They continue to 'talk about college. Something I can't talk about. We all move to the living room, and I sit next to Simone, who is sitting next to Ezra. I hear them talk about writing, and how Simone writes. They also talk about reading. What books they read.

She continues to flirt. I try to ignore them again by playing games on my phone."Here's my number if you ever want to call me, sometime." Simone says, handing him her business card.

I try to hide my jealousy.

"It's getting late. I think we should start to head out." Mr. Anderson says. "Okay." Mr. Stevenson says. They say good bye to everyone, and leave. "Yeah I think I should go." Ezra says. "It was nice meeting you." Simone says. "Maybe we could meet up sometime? Maybe coffee the day after tomorrow. at Starbucks?" Simone asks. "Sure. How about 12:00-ish." Ezra says, glancing at me. "I'll call you." He says. I'm not sure if he's lying or not. Ezra and Simone leave at the same time. I say to my mom "I'm gonna go get coffee." I walk outside.

On the way there, I call Ezra. "Hey, Aria." He says. "Hey." I say. "We need to talk." I say, almost forcefully. "Okay, I'm free now?" He says. "No I mean I need to talk to you in person." I say. "Can I meet you at your apartment in like an hour and a half?" I ask. "Yeah, okay. See you there." He says. " I love you." He says. "I love you too."

Once I get to Starbucks, i pick a table and sit down with my drink. I get to Ezra's apartment complex, I walk up to his apartment and knock on the door. When he opens it, I go inside and wait for him to close the door.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asks. "Simone." I say, looking into his eyes. "What about her?" He asks. "Everything." I say, angrily. "She's flirting with you and she doesn't know that you're in a relationship. The same way that nobody knows I'm in a she asked you on a date." I say. "It's just coffee, Aria." He says. "I know." I say, fake smiling.

"Aria. Please don't be jealous. I love you. And only you." He says, taking my hands in his and kissing me.

"So, how was dinner with my parents?" I ask sarcastically.

We talk for a while. By the end of the night, we've made up, and I'm happy again. I know that sounds cliché, but he didn't do anything. I was just jealous.


	4. Chapter 4

I was planning on cooking dinner for ezra tonight, but i haven't told him yet. I already had his class, so during lunch, i tell my friends that i'm going to go get some napkins. I go get some, and on my way back to the table I pretend to bump into Ezra while he's getting coffee. I accidentally spill his coffee all over his shoes and the ground. "Oh my god! I am so sorry!" I say, apologizing. I bend down to wipe it off his shoes, and the ground and as I wipe it up, I motion with my eyes for him to crouch down, and he does. He glances around and starts to help me wipe up the coffee. "Hey. I'm sorry." I whisper. "It's okay." He says. "How would you like if I cooked you dinner tonight?" I whisper, smiling at him. "I'd love that. But I have a meeting after school, so I might be late." He whispers. "Take your time." I whisper. We stand up. "See you later ." I say, smirking. I walk back to the table with my friends after getting more napkins. "I'm sorry guys. I just ran into Mr. Fitz, and spilled coffee all over his shoes, and the floor." I explain, laughing. "Wow." Emily laughs. We eat lunch, and right free school I go to the grocery to get some pasta, garlic bread, and Alfredo sauce.

I got home, and change into a purple dress that's very slimming, and nice. I curl my hair and fix my makeup from earlier.

I bring my ingredients to his apartment and let myself in. I cook the pasta, and set us two fancy plates, and glasses. By the time I'm done, I wait standing by the couch.

I hear the door open, and Ezra opens it. "Welcome home honey." I say, grinning at Ezra. "Wow." He says, grinning back. I walk up to him, and kiss him. "You look good." He says. "Thanks." I say. He takes off his jacket, and I loosen his tie a little as we sit down together on the couch. "Thanks for this, Aria. Really." He says.

"Oh, you're welcome." I say, smiling at him. "So how was your meeting?" I ask, handing him his plate of food as then picking up mine. "It was boring." He says, laughing. "That bad?" I ask. He just gives me one of those looks. I chuckle. I set my plate back on the table, and Ezra puts his on the table also.

We talk for a while and it feels really good to hang out without having to look at him behind a desk and call him Mr. Fitz. "Ezra?" I ask. "Yeah?" He turns to me. "Remember when we first met?" I ask.

He nods. "I told you I would let you see some of my writing so far." I state. He raises his eyebrows. I go to my bag near his door, and I pull out my old black journal I used to write in all of the time.

"This is my old journal. I filled it up with my writing. There's drawings, poems, stories, a couple diary entries, my thoughts. I've never shown anybody besides you. You can keep it. I want you to read it, but I don't want to be with you when you do." I say. "Really, Aria? Are you sure?" He asks, smiling at me. "Positive." I state. Looking at him. He pulls me in for a huge hug, and kisses my hairline. "I love you." He whispers. I look up at him. "I love you too." I say, smiling. He sets it on the table. I snuggle up to him, and we watch "to kill a mockingbird" the movie. We are such nerds. "I gotta go. I have to be back by 12:00, it's already 11:30." I say. "Thank you Aria. Tonight was amazing. I love you." He says, kissing me chastely. I love you too." I say, before leaving and driving home.

When I get inside, I set my keys on the table. My mom is grading papers for school, sitting on the couch. "Hey mom." I say, kissing her cheek, and sitting next to her on the couch. "Hey Aria. How have you been lately?" She asks. "Um, I'm okay." I say. "That's good." She says. we end up talking really late, and it ends up being about 2:00, when my mom says "Aria. We should go to bed. There's school tomorrow." We walk upstairs together. "Goodnight, Mom. I love you." I say, hugging her, and then brushing my teeth before going into my room to change.


	5. Chapter 5

Ezra's p.o.v:

As soon as Aria leaves, I change into my pajamas and grab her journal that she gave me. The whole journal is huge, about 300 pages so it must have taken over a year to fill.

I open it up, and on the first page, there's drawing of the back of a girls head, whose hair is curly, that looks like Aria's. I smile at it. I love when her hair is like that. It brings out her smile. Which I love seeing.

I turn the page, and there's a story that she wrote about a little girl who has the worst life, but always finds a way to smile. That lasts about 7 pages.

I keep turning, glancing at a bunch of drawings, and diary entries which describes what happened when she was living in Iceland. Before I realize it, I'm already 1/4 of the way through, and I want to save it, make it special, so I stop reading. I'll read more at school or something later. I set it in my briefcase, and then I get ready for bed.

In the morning, after I take a shower, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and get dressed, I bring my briefcase to my car and stop for coffee before school. When I get ready for my first class, I see Aria and her friends walk in, early. I half smile at her, and she blushes a little bit. They take their seats and talk about random stuff before all of the other kids come piling in.

"Today, you have to write an Essay." I start out. I hear a chorus of moans come from all over the classroom. "It's really short, and easy. It's actually an opinion. So the only way you won't get an A is if you don't do it." I say. "How long does it have to be?" A kid in the back asks. "At least two pages." I reply. "Okay. I'm gonna give you the rest of class to write about anything you want. It has to be deep, and personal you don't even have to put your name on it. Although I'd prefer if you would. It has to come from your heart. I'm not going to show anybody. Just write." I say, before sitting down. I hear paper ripping out of notebooks, and some whispering in the back, but I don't say anything to anyone about it.

I make eye contact with Aria, and she grins at me before looking down at her blank paper, and starting to write. I scan over the classroom, and then I take out some assignments to grade. "15 minute warning." I say later. I collect all the papers when the bell is about to ring. "Finish the end of the novel. By tomorrow." I add before everyone rushes out.

"Aria, can I see you after class?" I ask.


	6. Chapter 6

Aria P.o.v:

"Yeah." I reply as I gather all of my stuff together.

I walk up to Ezra once everyone has left. "Hey." I say, smiling at him. "Hey." He says, smiling back. "Your mom invited me over to dinner tomorrow night again. She said that she enjoyed my company, and that Simone isn't gonna be there." "Well that's awkward.." I say. "Why?" He laughs. "Well it's just that it's only gonna be my parents, me, you, and maybe Mike.." I say. "I haven't conformed it yet." He replies. "Then don't. Say you're busy. I probably should eat at home at least tomorrow night." I say.

"What about tonight?" He asks quietly, smiling at me. "What about tonight?" I joke. He laughs. "Want to come over? Eat dinner? I'll cook." He says quietly. "No thanks." I say. "I mean, I'll come over, but we both know you'll probably burn dinner and we'll end up ordering Chinese food." I say. He chuckles. "You're probably right." "How about 8:00?" I ask quietly. "Sounds great." I smile. "Do you need a late pass?" He asks. I nod. He scribbles something on a sticky note, before handing it to me.

"See you tonight." I whisper. He smiles at me, before I hurry off to my next class. It's study hall. I didn't miss much.

When I get there, Hanna is saving a seat for me. "Why we're you gone so long?" Hanna asks. "Mr. Fitz says my essay that we did a couple days ago is confusing, and I just had to explain it to him." I lie. She makes a sound. I take out my book, and I read a little. Hanna, Spencer, Emily and I plan to spend the night at Spencer's house. "Guys, I'm gonna be a little late." I say.

"Why?" Hanna asks. I start to panic. "I have a date..." I mumble. "Really? With who?" Spencer asks. "Um, I don't want to tell you guys yet.. Incase it doesn't work out." I lie. "What are you doing on this 'date' ?" Hanna uses finger quotations. I roll my eyes. "Eating dinner.." I say, which is true. "I'm supposed to be there at about 8:00.. So can I come over, go on my date, and come back?" I ask. "Uh, yeah." Spencer says.

After the next few hours, I drive straight to Ezra's apartment. "Hey." I say, kissing him. "Hey." He says, letting me in.

"So, what have ya been up to?" I ask. "I read your journal." He says. I raise my eyebrows. "Did you like it?" I ask, confused. "It was amazing, Aria. You are such a great writer! You write with such passion. I love it. I love you. I was really glad you let me read it." He says. I blush. "Thanks." I say, smiling wide at his compliments.

We eat the Chinese food, and then after cleaning up, we go back to siting on the couch.

"So what do you want to do?" He asks. "Wanna just hang out for a little while?" I ask, glancing up at him. "Sure." He says. I lean my back against the arm of the sofa as I put my feet on his lap. We tell each other funny stories for about an hour.

"I've been thinking..." I start to say. "Wait nevermind." I quickly say. "No, Aria, I want you to tell me." He says. He takes my mid thigh and pulls me closer to him so I can look him in the eye. "Would you go back if you could?" I ask quietly, but curiously. "What do you mean?" He asks. "If you never met me.. That day in the bar." I say, looking down. "You'd just be the pretty girl who sits in the third row two seats from the window. But no, I wouldn't go back. Would you?" He asks. "No." I say, half smiling at him.

"Then we go forward. Together." He says. I smile at him. I kiss him for a second.

"Aria. Since it's our 6 month anniversary, I wanted to give you something.." He says. I look up at him. He pulls out a black box, and smiles at me. "I hope you like it, If not, I can return it." He says. I take it from him and open it. Inside is a silver heart locket that is engraved with "B-26"

On the inside, it has the actual poem engraved.

I tear up, grinning at it. "Oh, Ezra." I say quietly, wiping of my messed up eyeliner.

He takes it from me and puts it on me.

"You like it?" He asks, smiling at me. "I love it. Thank you so much." I say, hugging him and then kissing him. "I'm sorry I forgot to get you something.. " I say to him. "You didn't need to get me anything, Aria. All that matters is that we're here, together." He says as he intertwines our hands.

I smile at him again. We cuddle on the couch, watching an old movie together.

I hear my phone ringing, and it says Spencer on it. "Hello?" I ask. "Aria? Where are you? You were supposed to be here two and a half hours ago!" Spencer says "shit." I mumble. "I'm sorry. I'll be there soon. I lost track of time. Where are you all?" I ask. "At my house. Take your time.. We're just watching a movie." Spencer explains. "Okay. See you then. Bye." I say before hanging up.

"I was supposed to be at Spencer's a couple of hours ago. You don't mind if I leave, do you? I'm really sorry." I say. "It's okay. Thanks for coming over. I really liked having you here." He says. "Thank you so much for the necklace. I love it. I love the poem too. Happy 6 month anniversary, Ezra. I love you." I say, before kissing him. It lasts for a couple of minutes, before he says "you should probably go, or else you'll be late." Ezra says. "I'm already late." I say, moving to kiss him again. "If you say so." He mumbles against my lips. About five minutes later, he stops. "You should really go now. Happy six month anniversary. I love you. Call me if you wanna talk, i'll see you later!" He says, giving me a peck on the lip, before I get my purse and drive to Spencer's house.

Mrs. Hastings lets me in and I run up to Spencer's room, tucking my necklace into my shirt so they don't see it. "Hey. The movie just finished." Spencer says. "Where were you?" She asks. "Eating dinner. Sorry we were talking and I lost track of time." I say, walking into her room.

I sit on Spencer's bed, and Spencer follows behind. "You missed Finding Nemo!" Hanna says, looking at me. "I've seen that movie more than 7 times." I say. "Yeah, well not in French!" Hanna says. "Why'd you watch it in French? You can't even speak French." I say. "I can." Spencer says. "I know that." I say, smiling.

"So, how was your date?" Emily asks. "It was okay." I say. We watch a couple movies, and then we go to sleep.

At school the next day, Hanna asks to borrow my math homework and I give it to her. We go into English, the class that Ezra teaches, and a substitute walks in. "Hello, I'm Mrs. Parker, your substitute teacher. If I call on you, can you tell me your name?" She asks. I see Hanna raise her hand. The sub points to Hanna. "Uh, I'm Hanna. Do you know what happened to Mr. Fitz?" She asks. "The principal said that on the way to school, some teenager that was texting hit him, and he got into this huge car crash. He said they don't know if he's gonna survive. He's in a coma right now." She says sympathetically. "The principal already visited him to see how he is doing, he said he doesn't look too good." She adds.

I feel myself start to get teary eyed, so I look down at my notebook until I calm am I going to do? I can't get in contact with him because he's in a coma. This can't be happening right now.

"You all can read your book for today, since there's no lesson plan."

By the end of class, which is my free period, I walk outside to my car. I sit in the driving seat, but I don't turn the car on. What would happen to me if Ezra died? He's the love of my life.

The thought of this makes me so sad that I start bawling my eyes out. I rest my arms and head on the steering wheel as I let out all me tears. Why am I crying? It's not like he's dead yet. But she said he might not survive. I pull myself together and I realize I'm late for chemistry. "Oh shit." I mumble, running out of my car back into school.

I forgot to fix my makeup, so it's probably smudged. When I walk in there, I sit down next to Spencer after telling the teacher that I drove home because I forgot my chemistry book, but there was traffic. "What's wrong, why is your makeup smudged?" Spencer asks. "I had a fight with my mom about my dad." I lie. "I'm sorry, Ar." She whispers. "It's okay." I say before catching up with the work. I finish school, and then about 40 minutes after school, I drove to the only hospital in rosewood. "Excuse me, do you know where an Ezra Fitz might be located? He got in a car crash? Do you know what room he's in?" I ask a nurse. "Wait a moment I'm gonna go get a doctor to explain what's happening to him." She asks.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Petrakis, Ezra's doctor. So he was hit by a texting drive and he went into a coma. He has a lot of brain damage, and he probably won't wake up for a couple of months. He basically has a half chance of survival. You can talk to him. He can hear you, but he won't respond. We're doing our best, and we can answer any questions you have. He's in room B26." He says.

"That's ironic." I mumble. "What?" He asks. "I said thanks." I tell him. "You're welcome."

I take the elevator up to his room and I peek in to make sure there are no visitors. I walk in and close the door behind me without looking at Ezra yet.


	7. Chapter 7

I turn around after shutting the door and I look at at him. I don't even recognize him. As I walk toward the bed, I see that whole body is bruised,and he has a bunch of casts all over him, and he has IVs sticking out of him. I pull up at chair close to the bed, and I look at his face. He looks awful, and I can't help but start to cry "Ezra." I squeak quietly. I intertwine my hands with his gently as I continue to quickly shed a bunch of tears.

I take a couple quick breaths before I start to talk to I start talking, I hold into my necklace, the heart locket, the one that Ezra got me. "Your room number is B26. Isn't that funny? I ask him, half smiling.

"I know you can hear me, and I know you cannot reply, so you have no choice but to listen to me. Ezra. Don't die. And please don't turn into a vegetable either. Please stay strong. I need you. I need you in my life. I can't live without you. You're my soulmate Ezra. You're the love of my life. Please. You can't do this to me. Not now. You are the best thing to ever happen to me, and i don't know how i would have been able to survive this past half of a year without your support. You need to wake up. you have to. Please, Ezra. Do you have any idea how much I love you, and everything about you? I love the way you give me those boyish smiles that make me melt inside, and I love how when you're nervous, you run your hand through your hair. I love how you always drink 1 and a half cups of coffee, not two. I love how you can't cook worth a crap, but we still eat it half of the time.I love how you care about everybody and everything, and always listen to me when I'm feeling sad, or I need to rant, or to tell a pointless story. You helped me get through my dads affair, and a lot more. I love how when you get embarrassed, your ears turn red, but nothing else does. I love how you're such a nerd, and that we have so much in common. I love how you are so good at writing, it takes my breath away. I love cuddling together on your couch, watching old movies, and I love how you are so brave. I love how you can find the brighter side of any situation, no matter how messed up. And most importantly, I love you, so much. I know our relationship isn't right, but we're going through enough already, did this really have to happen? So much for a 'happy 6 month anniversary'. God. This whole situation is just fucked up, it's probably going to ruin both of our lives until you wake up. All because of some stupid fucking teenager who never payed attention during those commercials of the people who got in a car crash because they were texting while driving. Dammit Ezra, I hate this. I hate this so much. I hate how you never did anything wrong, but you have to be the one to get hurt. You don't deserve it. Ezra, we don't deserve it. What if you finally wake up, and you don't remember who I am? Then what will happen? Huh, Ezra? This isn't how it was supposed to be. It shouldn't be this hard. We were supposed to get married someday, and have a beautiful baby boy and a beautiful baby girl, and I was supposed to go to college and become an art or an English teacher. we were supposed to grow old together, and watch our kids grow up, get married, and we were supposed to die as an old man and old lady, warm in our beds, together, happily ever after. But I don't think that's gonna happen anymore." I say really quietly, letting tears fall down my face as I speak.

I hear a knock on the door, and I quickly jump up, making sure it's not the principal or something, because I really shouldn't be here. It would be hard to explain why I'm visiting my teacher in the hospital. It's actually just the doctor. "Um, visiting hours are over." He says. "Oh, I didn't realize how long I've been here. I'm sorry." I say, wiping my tears off. "It's okay. Say your goodbyes and you can come back anytime you want, just so you know visiting hours last up to 10:00 everyday for non-family." I nod. "Can I give you my number so that if he wakes up when I'm not here you can let me know?" I ask him. "Of course." He says. I take out a paper and write my phone number and scribble my name on it. "Oh, and can you not tell anybody that I'm visiting him? Please?" I ask. "We won't." He says. "Thanks. I'll say goodbye and then I'll be out of here." I say. The doctor closes the door to give me some privacy.

I give him a gentle kiss on the lips, and cheek. "I love you, Ezra. More than words can describe. Stay strong. I'll visit you soon." I say, before walking out of the hospital and going home.


	8. Chapter 8

Throughout the week, I try to stay strong. The next day at school, an announcement comes on about an update about Ezra since yesterday from the principal. "For all of you kids in his class, he will not be returning to rosewood to teach. He was currently pronounced brain dead, and is on life support which is making him stay alive, which in technical terms is called a vegetable. He is at the hospital closest to the school, so any faculty or students that want to see him can come in tomorrow, but the rest of the visits are for family and friends." The principal says. "Oh my god." A couple of students say. I feel the tears well in my eyes, but I can't let anyone find out about Ezra.

"I feel so bad for ." says Hanna. "He was so young." Emily says. "He's not dead yet guys." Spencer says with quotations around dead. "Didn't you hear? They're pulling the plug tomorrow." Emily says. "What?!" I say, confused. "Yeah, everyone is allowed to visit him today, tomorrow, and the day after they pull the plug."

Spencer announces.

I decide not to visit him today or tomorrow. I can't handle seeing him hooked up to Life support. It's just too much. I visit him after they pull the plug after school. I walk into the hospital, scared. "You have 2 hours before we have to cover him." A doctor says. "Thanks." I mumble.

I sit down on his bed, and he's not plugged into anything anymore. He looks like he's sleeping. "Oh my god." I mumble, tears sliding down my face. "Ezra." I squeak. "This can't be happening. Ezra, I thought you were going to wake up! This isn't fair! We've only been together for 6 months, and then you die! We were supposed to spend our life together! I wanted to have kids with you. I loved you! and now-" I say before I start bawling my eyes out. The tears come out so hard that I can't breathe and I start hyperventilating. They keep coming, all of the tears I've been holding in. I hear the door open, but I can't stop crying. It's just a nurse telling me my time is up. She helps me calm down a bit. "Can I say bye before the funeral?" I mumble. "5 minutes." She replies, giving me privacy. I bend down, and give him a kiss, even though he won't kiss back. I caress his face lightly, letting some tears fall while I look at him. "Ezra, you are the love of my life. I just wanted you to know that. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, and it hurts so badly to know that a fucking texting teenager basically killed you, and any chance of us being together in the future. I love you, so much." I say, before kissing him one last time.

The next day at school, there's an announcement for his funeral that is going to be in a couple of days. We continue to go through our days like normal, avoiding talking about Ezra.

Since rosewood is a small town, it's an open visitation. Which means everyone I know is going, including all of my friends, teachers and family. I get ready to go to the funeral, and I wear waterproof mascara, because I'm probably going to be crying, even though nobody even knew about us in the first place. When I get there, I see my friends waiting for me, so I walk over to them. "Want to visit his open casket guys?" Emily ask. "I feel like we should." Hanna says. I follow them over to his casket.

As I see him laying there, he looks really peaceful, so it doesn't bother me. I take out a folded piece of paper in my pocket, and place it in his hand inside the casket, even though I'm probably not supposed to do that. On the paper was a letter I wrote to him that I never got to give him. "What are you doing?!" Spencer whispers. "Nothing." I say walking away from them, my friends following. The service goes fine, and I don't even cry. We all walk out for the burying of him.

As I see them take his basket and lower it to the ground, that's when I start crying. I try not to make any sounds so no one will notice, but I can't help it. I'm basically sitting there, crying my eyes out, shaking, trying not to make any noise, and it's really awkward. I'm not sure if anyone notices. Spencer takes my hand and leads me to a bench on the other side of the building where nobody is, my friends following behind me. Once I'm alone I don't hold in my sounds anymore, and it probably sounds so annoying to anyone walking by, but I just can't stop crying. I see my friends give me weird looks, super confused as to why I'm crying so much at their teachers funeral. "We're gonna take you to my house to calm down." Hanna says as we walk towards her car. By the time we get to her room, I've calmed down.

"I'm sorry." I say. "It's okay." Emily says. "So why were you crying?" Hanna asks. "I loved him." I say. "What do you mean?" Spencer asks. "I was dating him, I'm in love with him, are you happy!?" I confess. "How long has this been going on!?" Spencer asks. "I met him before school started.." I say. "Oh my god, since Labor Day!?" She asks. I nod. She gives me this 'I can't believe you did that look'. "Don't look at me like that." I say. "He didn't force you into anything, did he?" Emily asks. "No. He didn't force me into anything."

"Wow." Hanna says. "You can't tell anyone. Even though he's dead." I say. "We know." They say. "I'm really sorry, Aria. You could have told us, though." Hanna says.

We hang out the rest of the day watching movies, and I forget about him for a little while.


	9. Chapter 9

I wake up from sleeping in late. I'm in my bed, not Hanna's room. "Wait, what?" I mumble, rubbing my eyes. I feel my neck, and I'm still wearing the necklace Ezra gave me. I look around, and I'm alone. I check my phone, and there's like 5 messages from Ezra. I fix my hair, run to my car, and drive straight to Ezra's apartment building. I see him standing in the lobby, and when he turn around, I run up to him and hug him. "Ezra!" I squeal happily as I cling to him. "You're alive!" I say, grinning. "What do you mean?" He asks, ushering us toward his apartment. Once we get inside, I kiss him, and we sit down on the couch. "I had this dream that you got in a car crash..." I explain my dream to him. "I can't believe it! It all felt too real." I say. "That's one crazy dream." He says laughing when I'm finished.

"I realized that you are the person I want to get married to, and be with the rest of my life." I say quietly. "I love you." He says, kissing me on the forehead. "I love you too." I say

THE END


End file.
